Beware! Its a Cyber World - - Summary:
Widely spreading phone text (SMS) messages claim that the recipient has won a significant sum of money in an online lottery or promotion.
This is just a new method of fooling people. No such prize and/or lottery or promotion exists as stated in the messages. The enticing messages are used to fool recipients and then replying to fraudsters and scammers and sending them money (as advance fee to claim the prize) and personal information.
Let's get a look the two of such text messages:
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Example:1
CONGRAT!! YOUR MOBILE NUMBER HAS WON FOR YOU $2,000,000 USD IN THE FREE LOTTO MOBILE PROMO. FOR CLAIM, SEND EMAIL: ************@live.com & CALL: [Number removed]
Example:2
CONGRATULATION
your mobile number has won 500000 pounds in the ongoing NOKIA UK MOBILE PROMO for claims call [Removed] E-mail [Removed]
your mobile number has won 500000 pounds in the ongoing NOKIA UK MOBILE PROMO for claims call [Removed] E-mail [Removed]
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Beware! Its a Cyber World - - Explanation:
Recent submissions suggest that advance fee scammers are increasingly using phone text (SMS) messages as a means of gaining new victims. These spontaneous text messages claims that the recipient's mobile phone number has been selected as the winning entry in a lottery or promotion. The texts claim that the "lucky" recipient has therefore won a substantial sum of money or, in some versions, a valuable prize such as a car. To claim their prize, recipients are instructed to call or email via contact details included in the message.
In reality, the lotteries or promotions mentioned in the text messages do not exist. There is no prize. The promised prize is simply the bait used to entice recipients in to contacting the criminals responsible for the scam. Those who fall for the ruse and make contact as instructed will soon be asked to send money, ostensibly in order to allow the release and transfer of the supposed prize. The scammers will claim that this money is required to cover expenses such as tax, legal, insurance or banking fees. They will insist that these fees cannot be deducted from the prize itself. If a victim complies and sends the first fee requested, the scammers will invent other "expenses" that must be paid in advance before the prize can be handed over. Requests for money are likely to continue until the victim belatedly realizes that he or she is being conned or, in some sad cases, simply runs out of money to send. During the course of the scam, the victim may also inadvertently hand over a substantial amount of personal and financial information, supposedly as a means of proving identity and allowing transfer of the "prize money". The scammers may subsequently use this information to steal their victim's identity.
Advance fee lottery scams are certainly not new. Like other types of advance fee scam, they have been around for many years. Advance fee scammers use a variety of methods to reach potential victims, including email, surface mail, fax, social networking and, as in the versions discussed here, SMS. The scammers often claim that the prize or promotion is connected to a high-profile company such as Nokia, BlackBerry or Sony Ericsson. The scammers use the names, and, sometimes, the logos and trademarks of such companies without permission as a means of making their claims seem more legitimate. In other cases, the scammers may claim that their scam message is from a real lottery entity such as the UK's National Lottery. Again the scammers use the names and details of these lottery entities without their permission or knowledge.
People need to be very cautious of any unsolicited message that claims that they have won money or a prize in some form of lottery or promotion that they have never even entered. Be wary of any message in any format that claims that your name, phone number or email address has been randomly selected as the winner of a substantial prize. Genuine lotteries do not operate in this manner. If you receive such a scam message, do not reply or respond to the scammers in any way.
In reality, the lotteries or promotions mentioned in the text messages do not exist. There is no prize. The promised prize is simply the bait used to entice recipients in to contacting the criminals responsible for the scam. Those who fall for the ruse and make contact as instructed will soon be asked to send money, ostensibly in order to allow the release and transfer of the supposed prize. The scammers will claim that this money is required to cover expenses such as tax, legal, insurance or banking fees. They will insist that these fees cannot be deducted from the prize itself. If a victim complies and sends the first fee requested, the scammers will invent other "expenses" that must be paid in advance before the prize can be handed over. Requests for money are likely to continue until the victim belatedly realizes that he or she is being conned or, in some sad cases, simply runs out of money to send. During the course of the scam, the victim may also inadvertently hand over a substantial amount of personal and financial information, supposedly as a means of proving identity and allowing transfer of the "prize money". The scammers may subsequently use this information to steal their victim's identity.
Advance fee lottery scams are certainly not new. Like other types of advance fee scam, they have been around for many years. Advance fee scammers use a variety of methods to reach potential victims, including email, surface mail, fax, social networking and, as in the versions discussed here, SMS. The scammers often claim that the prize or promotion is connected to a high-profile company such as Nokia, BlackBerry or Sony Ericsson. The scammers use the names, and, sometimes, the logos and trademarks of such companies without permission as a means of making their claims seem more legitimate. In other cases, the scammers may claim that their scam message is from a real lottery entity such as the UK's National Lottery. Again the scammers use the names and details of these lottery entities without their permission or knowledge.
People need to be very cautious of any unsolicited message that claims that they have won money or a prize in some form of lottery or promotion that they have never even entered. Be wary of any message in any format that claims that your name, phone number or email address has been randomly selected as the winner of a substantial prize. Genuine lotteries do not operate in this manner. If you receive such a scam message, do not reply or respond to the scammers in any way.
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